


Customer Service

by Melodious1776



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: College AU, M/M, Non-hip Keith, Seriously Keith get with the times, lance/keith - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-20 16:51:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10666806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melodious1776/pseuds/Melodious1776
Summary: First of all, you should know because all customers sign in, duh, and second of all, you were staring,” Pidge said with a snort, just to show how obvious those facts supposedly were.“Wait, actually?” Lance practically leaped up and thrust himself over the counter, not taking the time to simply walk around it or look back at Pidge who was cracking up when he fell down on the other side. He scrambled to his feet, all the while trying not to look too desperate (although it was definitely too late for that), and thumbed through the book at the end of the shiny marble surface to find the name of the last person who came in.“Keith, huh?” he mumbled under his breath, “That’s got a nice ring to it.”





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So this is not only my first anything on here, it's my first fic I've ever written so pardon its awful terrible-ness.

_ As he delicately balanced a quarter on his folded thumb, Lance narrowed his eyes at the girl sitting in front of him. _

_ “Heads,” he said quietly with a smirk. _

_ “Hey, no fair! I want heads!” Pidge cried with a pout, folding her arms across her chest. _

_ “Well, too bad. I get heads,” Lance retorted as he leaned back in his chair. _

_ “Fine, whatever. Just flip it already,” she said with a defeated look on her face. _

_ “Well hold on now, how much are you willing to bet on this flip? Or are you scaaared?” _

_ The two of them went back and forth for a while trying to decide what to put on the line with this single coin toss that was only being done for the sake of boredom. Monday nights at the Customer Service desk of the Altea Store weren’t exactly the busiest days. The only kind of people who would come in for help on a Monday night were the crazy ones who didn’t even know how to unlock their aPhone.  _

_ The amount that the two of them were betting kept getting higher and higher, and if Lance hadn’t noticed someone walk up to the counter out of the corner of his eye, he probably would have lost all the money he’d been saving up to pay for his last two years of college. Lance turned toward the counter in his swivel chair and stood up almost in perfect sync with Pidge. They were both quick to realize that this was probably one of those crazy people. Lance was quick but Pidge was quicker, and with a pat on the back and a whisper of reassurance, she stepped into the break room. With a shrug and a can-do attitude, Lance put on a smile and did his job just like he would with any other customer. At least, he tried to anyway. _

_ “How can I help you?” he asked, just like he normally did. _

_ “Oh okay, so I was outside and I wanted to take a picture, right?” the young man started. _

_ “Uh-huh,” Lance urged him on with a nod. _

_ “But then when I opened the camera, the screen was too dark and I couldn’t take a picture,” he said, pulling out his phone to show Lance how dark the slightly cracked screen was. _

_ “You just have to turn up the brightness,” Lance responded plainly. _

_ “Turn up…?” He looked down at his phone and then back up at Lance with pure confusion spread across his face. _

_ “You just have to pull up from the bottom of the screen and then drag the bar to the left or right depending on how bright or dark you want the screen light to be,” Lance instructed him, gesturing to the bottom of the phone. _

_ “...Drag?...Pull?” That clearly confused him even more. _

_ “Okay, put your finger on the bottom of the screen and slide it to the top of the screen,” he explained slowly, and watched clueless fellow carefully rest his slender finger on the screen. _

_ “Lower.” _

_ “Lower.” _

_ "Lower." _

_ “Higher.” _

_ “Okay you know what? Here,” Lance said, trying to remain calm and patient, and reached forward over the counter. He wrapped his warm fingers around the man’s cold pointer finger and moved it to the proper location on the screen. Using the captive finger, he slid up on the screen and adjusted the brightness. _

_ “Voila,” Lance said quietly with a small grin on his face, eyes locked with the man on the other side of the counter, holding his finger for just a tick too long, letting go only once he heard Pidge come up behind him, obviously kicked out of the break room by their manager. _

_ “Thanks!” The man put his phone back in his pocket and turned with a satisfying smile. _

_ “Any time,” Lance replied, watching him walk to the door, taking a mental note of how his short, ruffled mullet laid perfectly on the back of his neck. _

_ Pidge sat back down in her swivel chair and started to spin. _

_ “Sooooooooooo, what’s his name?” Pidge inquired, raising her eyebrows suggestively. Suggestive of what, Lance had no clue. _

_ “How should I know? And why do you care?” He plopped back down in his chair and kicked his feet up on the counter. He heard soft footsteps and turning his head to the side he saw their manager. _

_ “Put your feet down, please.” _

_ “Sorry, Shiro,” Lance said quietly and quickly put his feet down. _

_ “First of all, you should know because all customers sign in, duh, and second of all, you were staring,” Pidge said with a snort, just to show how obvious those facts supposedly were. _

_ “Wait, actually?” Lance practically leaped up and thrust himself over the counter, not taking the time to simply walk around it or look back at Pidge who was cracking up when he fell down on the other side. He scrambled to his feet, all the while trying not to look too desperate (although it was definitely too late for that), and thumbed through the book at the end of the shiny marble surface to find the name of the last person who came in. _

_ “Keith, huh?” he mumbled under his breath, “That’s got a nice ring to it.” _


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Keith still can't phone, Hunk needs toilet paper, Pidge is having way too much fun with this, Shiro is mad?????, and Lance needs serious help

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hunk- bold face  
> Lance- italics

Lance gaped and stared at the man standing in front of him. The second he walked into the store, Pidge left to the break room with a pat on the back like she did every time. That left Lance alone, face to face with their most infamous customer, at least amongst him, Pidge, and his roomie, Hunk. He had come in weekly for the past 5 weeks, every Monday, without fail, with a different problem every time. He sported a puffy red jacket and black fingerless gloves just like he always did, fitting for the cold, late-November wind. The guy was probably a college student around Lance’s age, making it a safe guess that Keith was in his early 20s, so why was he so gosh darn clueless about technology? 

“Say that again?” Lance dared to ask. 

“Uuuh, how do I stop the screen from turning?” Keith questioned, flipping his phone around a few times for emphasis, confused about why Lance had such a strange look on his face. With that, Lance threw himself on the counter and face palmed.

“So dramatic,” Keith rolled his eyes with a grin. 

“Okay, do you remember how to adjust the brightness?”

“Yeah…” Keith responded cautiously, not sure where this was going. 

“Okay so pull up from the bottom of the screen.”

“Okay now what?”

“Now do you see the little circle that looks like a lock with an arrow around it?”

“Uh, this one?” He turned his phone toward Lance and pointed to the Do Not Disturb button. 

“Wha- What about that looks like a lock to you?”

“It looks kinda like a keyhole!”

“No, it really doesn't. Anyway, it's the one to the right of it. That'll keep the screen from turning and when you want it to turn then you press the button again.”

“Thanks, Lance!” Keith turned on his heels and started toward the door. 

“Any time, Keit- Wait, hold up,” Lance quickly jumped to his feet. Keith stopped in his tracks and turned his head back.

“Hm?”

“How do you know my name?”

“You’ve got a name tag, how do you know mine?” Keith retorted with a sly grin.

“Uh, I saw your name in the sign-in book,” Lance said, lightly gesturing to the book on the end of the counter.

“I know.”

And with that, he turned back, pushed open the door and stepped out of the building, going on his way. Lance began spinning around in his chair and humming when he heard Pidge walk back out of the break room and plop down into her seat.

“Whatcha humming?” she asked, “I don't recognize it.”

“Oh it's my own little theme song,” he said matter-of-factly, “I haven't worked out the lyrics yet because I can't for the life of me find a word that fits and rhymes with ‘Lance.’”

“What about ‘Klance?’”

“Pidge, that's not a word.”

“Yeah it is.”

“Oh yeah? What does it mean?”

“It's the ship name I made for you and Keith.”

“Okay, I hear you, but I'm gonna chose to ignore you because you're talking nonsense.”

“Whatever you say…*cough*denial*cough*”

“Again, choosing to ignore you.”

Pidge’s face lit up like she was about to say something, but was abruptly cut off by a loud buzzing. Both Lance and Pidge turned to the counter, just sitting there staring as Lance’s phone vibrating made it slide across the surface. Once it finally finished buzzing, Lance leaned over and grabbed his phone. It was his roommate, Hunk.

**6:17 pm: lance we're out of toilet paper**  


_6:17 pm: dude i'm at work  
_

**6:17 pm: i know, but we're out of toilet paper!!!**

_6:18 pm: no we're not  
_

there's _some in the linen closet_

**6:18 pm: no there's not i just checked** _  
_

**lance, i need toilet paper!!!!**

_6:20 pm: okay i'll pick some up on the way home  
_

_you'll have to wait until my shift is over tho_

**6:20 pm: thanks, you had better hurry back  
**

_6:21 pm: yeah yeah  
_

**6:23 pm: while you're out can you pick up some snacks at 7 Eleven  
**

_6:23 pm: i thought you wanted me to hurry back???_

“Ooooooh who was thaaat?” Pidge said with a sly grin. At some point while he was texting, Pidge had scooted up next to him, got on her knees on her chair, and was peering over his shoulder at his phone. He pulled his phone defensively toward his chest out of habit.

“Oh my gosh it was Keith, wasn’t it?!” Pidge practically snorted, fell back to a sitting position, and began spinning in circles. 

“What?!” Lance shrieked, “How could...why would...what?!” Lance attempted to explain the fact that it was just Hunk and that she was insane, but he was almost immediately drowned out by her teasing.

“He’s your booooooyfrieeend and you loooove hiiim,” she said, still spinning as she put her hands on her cheeks. Lance reached out and put his hands on her shoulders to stop her spinning so he could get a word in.

“He’s not my boyfriend and I don’t love him. I don’t have his number! Even if I did have his number, he probably wouldn’t even be able to figure out how to text me,” Lance sighed, “It was Hunk. We ran out of toilet paper.”

“OH MY GOSH LANCE YOU’RE CHEATING ON KEITH WITH HUNK?!”

That made Lance just about snap. For a split second he considered strangling her, but decided against it. She owed him money. So instead he did what he normally did when he wanted to go home early: he changed the hour on the time clock to seven even though it was only 6:40 and clocked out. He pulled his jacket off the hook in the breakroom, waved to Shiro with a small “g’night,” walked right past Pidge, and started walking back to his dorm. 

It was only a ten minute walk but with the cold constantly nipping at his nose, it felt like it was taking hours. When he was only a few more blocks away from the sweet, sweet warmth of his heated dorm, he heard a faint shout in the distance from quite a ways in front of him. 

“What the quiznak?” he mumbled under his breath as he squinted, trying to make out the figure in the distance.

He shoved his hands in his pockets for warmth and out of pure curiosity for who was crazy enough besides him to be outside in this cold at this hour, he briskly paced further up the sidewalk when he saw someone finally come into view. Whoever they were, they were waving their hand high over their head and yelling his name.

“Lance! Hey, Lance!” They shouted.

“Keith?”

“Hey, fancy seeing you here.”

Keith took a step closer, still wearing his red jacket and black fingerless gloves. Lance glanced down and Keith’s hands, noticing that the pale skin on the tips of his fingers were a rosy red from the cold.

“Hey I hav-”

“Aren’t you-

They both started at the same time. With an almost unnoticeable chuckle, they both gestured to each other to continue. Taking the initiative, Keith decided to speak up, but not without a slight grin.

“I have a question. And you could bet your bottom dollar that the question is about technology.”

Lance held his hand to his mouth in an attempt to cover up his laughter, but to no avail. He absolutely burst out laughing, his breath visible in the crisp air, even having to wrap his arms around his stomach.

“What did I say?!” Keith cried accusingly.

“‘Bet your bottom dollar?’ Who says that? Were you born in the early 1900s or something?” Lance snickered.

“Plenty of people say it! And for your information, the phrase originated in 1856, not the 1900s,” Keith said as he crossed his arms with a pout.

Wiping a tear of laughter from his eyes, Lance finally settled down. He looked down at Keith - taking a mental note of the small but noticeable one or two inch height difference - and caught a glimpse of a grin on his face.

“Anywho, what did you need help with?”

“Oh so I can’t say ‘bet your bottom dollar,’ but you can say ‘anywho?’”

“Unlike your old timey vocabulary, mine is actually hip. Now do you want help or not?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Sure, it would be a bit difficult to help Keith - it always was - but for some reason Lance didn’t mind that much. So he put on a smile, a real genuine one, and was actually quite happy to help.

“I don't know how to delete photos.”

Normally, Lance would fall to the ground and face palm, but you know what? Keith's complete ignorance of technology didn't even faze Lance’s mood. He just smiled and reached from Keith's phone. Keith willingly handed it over and peered over Lance’s arm to see what he was doing. All the while explaining, Lance opened the photos app, selected the picture that Keith wanted to delete, deleted it, and closed out of the photos app. He was about to hand the phone back when-

“Wait a second.”

“What is it?” Keith asked, cocking his head to the side. 

“You're home screen. It's still the picture that the phone comes with,” Lance said slowly, in great confusion. 

“I like it?” Keith tried. 

“No you don't. No one likes the background the phone comes with.”

“Well, what if I do?” Keith said defiantly, crossing his arms across his chest. 

“Wait. You don't know how to, do you?!” Lance almost burst out laughing. 

“So what if I don't?” Keith asked, looking down and the concrete sidewalk. Lance raised his arm and gave Keith a solid pat on the bag. 

“Don't worry man, I gotchu,” Lance grinned, and opened up the camera app. 

Keith looked up from the sidewalk and at the phone. Lance was holding it straight out, the camera facing them. 

“Smile!” Lance said with a huge grin. Keith caught sight of Lance’s smile on the screen and put on an even bigger one, just a second before Lance took the picture. He pulled the phone back toward himself, opened the photos app once more, and set the picture as Keith’s lock screen. He locked the phone and then turned it back on. He peered down at the photo with a sweet grin, cherishing the ear to ear smiles they both had and looking at how their breath was puffing out around them like a couple of smokers from the chilly air.

“There, now you can change it to whatever.”

Looking back up at Keith, he handed back his phone and started back to his dorm. Turning back, Lance waved goodbye to Keith. But Keith just stood there and stared at him, a ghost of a smile on his face. 

“Keith? Buddy? Pal?”

“Oh, yeah, see ya!” Keith waved back, his smile widening, his face a light pink from the cold. As far as Lance knew, anyway. 

**. . .**  


Disappointed Shiro is not a good Shiro, that’s for sure. But Mad Shiro? That’s a completely different story, and not a pretty one for that matter. 

Lance knew that. He made sure to comply to all the rules and listen to Shiro. Well, almost all the rules.

“Shiro, I know this looks bad, but I can explain.”

“Explain what?” Shiro folded his arms with a frown. “Explain why you’re seemingly 40 minutes late to work, but then I find out that you changed the time on the time clock so you could leave early?”

“Uh, yeah. That.”

Lance racked his brain to find a believable excuse, but nothing came to mind. Nothing at all. His eyes flicked over to behind Shiro to see Pidge waving her hands around with a mock-disappointed look on her face as she imitated Shiro’s lecturing. Lance held a hand up to his mouth to try and hold in his laughter. 

“It was my fault,” a voice chimed from behind him. Lance whipped his head around and saw none other than Keith standing right behind him.

“I told him to do it. I wanted to meet up with him for dinner so I suggested he leave work early.”

With a shocked and slightly embarrassed look on his face, Shiro raised his hand to rub the back of his neck.

“Well, uh, sorry for the misunderstanding, just try not to let it happen again,” Shiro said with an awkward laugh and a cheeky smile, heading back to his office. Lance turned to thank his savior. 

“Hey, thanks man! You really didn't need to do that, but I'm pretty glad you did either way!” Lance laughed with an elated smile. 

“Don't worry about it, it's the least I could do to repay you for all the help you've given me.”

“No need to repay me, it's my job, I already get paid!”

“So, speaking of your job, there's something I need your help with.” No surprise there.

“Sure, what's up?”

For the first time in, well, ever, Keith held up a product that he picked up from one of the shelves. It was a dark red phone case, the same color as the one he currently has. 

“I want to buy this case but will it break if I, like, drop it 50 times?”

Lance’s mouth dropped and he could swear his heart stopped beating. An unwelcome heat crept up his neck, all the way to the tips of his ears. He stumbled back a few steps, shoved an unexpectant Pidge up to the counter, and practically fell into the break room. He shut the door as quietly as he could, pushed his back up against the wall, and slid to the floor. Resting his head in his hands, he started shaking his head back and forth, mumbling to himself. This was  **not** what he needed right now. He had a solid job with a solid paycheck, a solid arrangement with his roommate, and solid grades that would lead to him getting his dream job. The last thing he needed was some technologically illiterate mullet to mess that all up. He was in love and he knew it. Just then, a dangerous idea came to mind. He was gonna deal with this the only way he knew how: cheesy pickup lines. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, here's chapter one. Enjoy it or don't, I don't mind either way  
> Sorry to be so extra by having a prologue so I now technically have two chapter 1's


End file.
